Double Clutchin’-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly After Richmond
Written by Rocky Kitts · September 8, 2008
Well, that race certainly doesn’t leave me with much room to complain.
The NASCAR regular season closed itself out on Sunday with one slobberknocker of an event at Richmond. In one of the better races of the season, Jimmie Johnson held off Tony Stewart to win his second race in a row and set himself up to make a legitimate run at his third straight championship, which is kind of impressive. Kind of impressive in the same way that walking into a frat party with a Playboy Bunny on your arm is impressive. Anyways, the Rock and Roll 400 had a little bit of entertainment for everyone, so let’s get started with the G, B, and U:
The Good:
I’ve already made an argument that we may not really appreciate how good Jimmie Johnson is, so I’m not going to go over that again, but when you’re the best driver on a team that has a four-time champ and the son of Dale Earnhardt, you’re probably going to be a tad bit under the radar.
It doesn’t matter whether or not Dale Junior intentionally crashed Kyle Busch or not, the fact is that the timing of it couldn’t be funnier. The guys in the booth had just finished talking about how if Junior was going to get payback that this would not be the time he would get it, and then the next thing you know, Kyle goes for a teacups ride. For the record, I don’t really think that DE88 did it on purpose, but the Kyle Busch haters in the crowd really could have cared less.
A strong second-place finish by Tony Stewart is going to give Smoke some fabulous momentum going into the Chase. Also, anyone who doubts that Stewart is still focused on bringing a championship home and winning races, needs to wind back the DVR and check out Stewart’s reaction upon finishing second. He wanted to win, thought that he had a good chance at the win, and second place was not a bit satisfying to him.
Clint Bowyer clinched the final spot in the Chase with a exclamation mark by moving up seven spots in the final pecking order. Bowyer and his team are having a great season and he’s really positioned himself as a dark horse/wild card/whatever cliche that you want to use, going into the Chase.
The Bad:
I found out the only thing that can stop Kyle Busch’s winning ways. I predicted a win for him on Sunday and he ended up getting used as a pinball for much of the day. Sorry, Kyle. However; even with those obstacles, Kyle still finished 15th, but that’s not acceptable for K Quick. Kyle either belongs up front or in the rear. He’s not a middle-of-the-pack kind of guy.
Jeff Gordon’s Chase push has less positive momentum that Britney Spears’ career. Gordon was invisible for most of the race, and I kept having to search the standings to see what spot he was racing from. Gordon made the Chase, but can he do anything now that he’s there.
Also, take everything that I said about Gordon and apply it to Matt Kenseth, who fell down the standings like Alice down the freaking rabbit hole. Kenseth ran like he was trying to fall out of the Chase and that’s something that he came pretty doggone close to accomplishing. I know that they’re just trying to get into the Chase, but come on.
The Ugly:
You’ve been waiting for it if you got this far.
Kasey Kahne misses the Chase by one spot. Better luck next year big guy.
As much as I clown on the guy, it would have been good for everyone involved if he had been able to get in, and it’s not going to be as much fun to poke fun at him now that he’s just Dead Metal. But, I’m sure that I’ll find a way. :)
That’s it for this week’s G, B, and U. It should be a great stretch run, as most of the big names are in the Chase, and you’ve got three guys who won 4+ races this season leading the way. Junior is in great position to win the Cup, but he’s going to have to really get aggressive like you-know-who used to do, and Tony Stewart could get hot and take a third championship home with him. Not to mention other guys who are going for their first shot at greatness.
Enjoy the festivities, it’s about to get real fun around the track.
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Glad I could read up on the “common man’s” take of the race, since I didn’t get to see it in person. I had about the worst sports Sunday that I could have had. I chose to watch my Patriots open their season, and planned to DVR the race to watch after. Due to some inexplicable operator error, the race never recorded and my man Tom Brady got about 15 plays in before his season was ended for good. Good times!
Anyway, glad to see Clint made it in, but am a bit bummed for the lackluster year the Dodge’s had. This can only mean one thing - someone is going to complain enough that they will get some kind of favor next year. A few more horsepower here, a little adjustment there. What they should be complaining about is the quality of their teams.